


Baby Boy

by justanoutlaw



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Cursed Hyperion Heights, Cursed Memories, Episode: s07e06 Wake Up Call, Failed Adoption, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-17 16:36:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16099547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justanoutlaw/pseuds/justanoutlaw
Summary: Lucy's insistence that she's a mother, causes Roni to remember the time she almost was one.





	Baby Boy

**Author's Note:**

> Canon compliant to “Wake Up Call”, based on a headcanon that I have about the baby that Roni talks about adopting.

Roni tried to be patient with Lucy. She was just a kid, one who was caught up in a particularly sticky custody dispute. Of course she wanted to dream that she had two parents, a life where she wouldn’t have to live with her possessive grandmother.

 

However, if she mentioned one more time that she had a son, she was going to lose it.

 

After Lucy left her bar again and Henry went to use the bathroom before they came up with a plan, she went into her supply room. She dug through her mess of boxes and pulled out a file. She went through her copies of applications and letters, until she finally found a picture. She traced her finger over it, tears welling up in her eyes.

_Roni bounced the baby in her arms, rubbing her nose against his. She had decided to go into fostering when she realized she wanted to be a mom. The only thing she knew she couldn’t afford was the process of IUI and sperm donation. Shortly after she finished the classes, they had introduced her to the most precious baby boy there ever was._

 

_“What shall we do today?” She cooed, as she walked around her tiny apartment. “We could go to the store and get you an outfit for your Gotchya Day. It’s going to be the first of many, I promise you that.”_

_She let out a deep breath, nuzzling her cheek against his._

_“Oh, I promise you,” she whispered. “I am never going to let you go.”_

_There was a knock at her door and she walked over, balancing him as she opened it. She raised an eyebrow when she saw the baby’s social worker standing there._

_“Diana? Didn’t we just have a home visit?”_

_“It’s not that, Roni. I’ve submitted your case to the judge…and I’m afraid it’s been denied.”_

_Roni’s face fell. “Excuse me?”_

_“You’re a young single mom, you work in a bar…”_

_“I own the bar,” Roni vehemently corrected._

_“Even so, your financial statements aren’t the greatest. He feels that the baby would be better suited in a different home.”_

_Tears filled Roni’s eyes as she cradled the baby boy closer to her._

_“No,” Roni’s voice broke. “I…I’ve been the one taking care of him for the past few months. He’s my son.”_

_“I’m sorry, Roni. If things change, maybe we can help you out in the future.”_

_She gently took him from Roni and walked out the door. Just as her son had entered her life, he was gone. Roni walked into the nursery she had set up, the tears spilling down her face, choking on her sobs. Her hand drifted to the apple mobile that hung over the empty crib, the one that would no longer hold a baby._

 

“Roni!”

 

Roni snapped out of it, looking up at the sound of Henry’s voice.

 

“We going to get this pizza or what?”

Roni quickly wiped her tears and cleared her throat. “Yes, yes. I’ll be right there.”

 

She took one last glance at the picture before putting it back in with the files. She needed to find a way to get over that awful time in her life. It was 32 years ago, even if it felt like just yesterday.


End file.
